Typically, a gear box is adapted to receive a rotary input. This rotary input is generally delivered to an output shaft through a clutch arrangement or the like. Usually, the gear box is configured to have a housing surrounding the output shaft.
With this construction, the housing may typically form a portion of a lubricant reservoir disposed within the gear box. A hydraulic pump is usually provided to supply lubricant under pressure to the bearings and clutch that are associated with the output shaft whenever rotary input is being provided. However, when rotary input is shut down, no further lubricant is delivered by the pump to the bearings and the clutch of the output shaft.
In many cases, this can provide a significant problem with potential damage of an undesirable nature, e.g., the output shaft may well be coupled to a unit that continues to rotate as a result of inertia even when the rotary input is shut down. This means that the bearings and clutch will continue to be driven during such rotation but will not be lubricated in the process. Since the output shaft rotates in many such cases at a significant angular velocity, and the bearings and clutch receive no lubrication, they will eventually be damaged by reason of running in the absence of a lubricant.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the foregoing problems and accomplishing the resulting objects by providing a unique gear box lubrication system.